HIV Testing Strategies in the Perinatal Setting

Approximately 40% of HIV-infected infants in the United States in 2000 were born to women not diagnosed with their HIV prior to delivery. (1) There are now effective medical therapies to prevent perinatal transmission, including anti-retroviral therapy, but this requires diagnoses of maternal HIV prior to delivery. Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Institute of Medicine (IOM) have published strong recommendations for universal HIV-antibody testing of pregnant women. This will be a randomized controlled, non-inferiority trial comparing two HIV testing strategies among English and Spanish-speaking patients presenting for prenatal care at SFGH WHC over the course of approximately one year. Eligible participants will be randomized by study personnel to either standard HIV counseling and testing (control arm) or abbreviated counseling and testing (study arm). Participants will receive a standard prenatal HIV testing brochure, undergo one of two HIV counseling/testing strategies, submit blood for an HIV-1 antibody test, and will follow-up with their medical provider for HIV test results. Upon completion of counseling, participants will undergo a short, structured (Pre-test) questionnaire administered by study staff. Following testing and receipt of results, participants will complete a second (Post-test) structured questionnaire administered by study staff. Eligible women presenting to SFGH physician or midwife prenatal clinics will be recruited, consented and randomized by study staff to either the standard or abbreviated testing strategy. The outcomes studied will be patient satisfaction and the proportion of study participants who undergo HIV testing. Potential confounder variables to be measured will include demographic characteristics, prior HIV testing history, knowledge about HIV/AIDS, attitudes towards HIV testing, HIV test result, and type of provider (physician versus midwife).